CSUN’s Denzel Clarke Blasts Homer, Robs Another After Major League Debut
Former CSUN Baseball player Denzel Clarke is building quite the highlight reel since making his Major League Baseball debut on May 23 — creating fireworks with his bat and playing some superhero defense.
Clarke was recently called up from the minor leagues to play for the Athletics — a team spending this season playing in West Sacramento before a planned move to Las Vegas. The center fielder is considered an elite defensive prospect.
He showed off that ability in a recent series against the Blue Jays in his hometown of Toronto, climbing the center-field wall for an incredible leaping grab to rob Alejandro Kirk of a home run. The jaw-dropping play inspired more than one observer to compare Clarke to Spider-Man.
The next night, still in Toronto, Clarke hit his first major-league home run, a go-ahead two-run shot in the second inning.
“I’m playing in the big leagues in front of family and friends,” Clarke told MLB.com. “That’s a really cool moment. Not everyone can say they’ve done that.”
Clarke played three seasons at CSUN before being picked by the A’s in the first round of the 2021 Major League draft. In 2021, he became the first Matador in team history to win the Big West Defensive Player of the Year award.
Update, June 10
While we’re at it, you should really see this catch from last night, too:
The post CSUN’s Denzel Clarke Blasts Homer, Robs Another After Major League Debut first appeared on CSUN Newsroom.
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